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Creators/Authors contains: "Oliver, Hilde"

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  1. Abstract Seasonal phytoplankton blooms in Greenland’s coastal waters form the base of marine food webs and contribute to oceanic carbon uptake. In Qeqertarsuup Tunua, West Greenland, a secondary summertime bloom follows the Arctic spring bloom, enhancing annual primary productivity. Emerging evidence links this summer bloom to subglacial discharge from Sermeq Kujalleq, the most active glacier on the Greenland Ice Sheet. This discharge drives localized upwelling that may alleviate nutrient limitation in surface waters, yet this mechanism remains poorly quantified. Here, we employ a high-resolution biogeochemical model nested within a global state estimate to assess how discharge-driven upwelling influences primary productivity and carbon fluxes. We find that upwelling increases summer productivity by 15–40% in Qeqertarsuup Tunua, yet annual carbon dioxide uptake rises by only  ~3% due to reduced solubility in plume-upwelled waters. These findings suggest that intensifying ice sheet melt may alter Greenland’s coastal productivity and carbon cycling under future climate scenarios. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available December 1, 2026
  2. This dataset contains time series output from Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) simulations investigating the impact of fjord sill depth on circulation and biogeochemistry in a Greenland fjord system. The data includes three scenarios with different sill depths (250m baseline, 200m, and 100m) and provides fjord-averaged temperature, dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) fluxes at the fjord mouth, cumulative DIN export, and mean DIN concentrations at the fjord outlet. Temperature differences between the baseline and modified sill scenarios are also included. These results demonstrate how fjord sill depth controls water mass exchange, heat transport, and nutrient cycling in glacial fjord systems. Data is provided as a MATLAB structure with metadata describing variables and scenarios. 
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  3. Abstract Numerous proposed geoengineering schemes to mitigate climate change and its consequences are now widely discussed in the scientific literature. Sea level rise is a clear example of the implications of climate change with a further committed rise of at least 2–3 m embedded within the Earth System from +1.5°C of global warming. A bold suggestion to reduce sea level rise is to install underwater barriers to reduce the inflow of oceanic heat around Antarctica and Greenland. Inflow of warm, saline water masses drives ice melt and the destabilization of tidewater glaciers. Whilst the basic theory that barriers would stem oceanic heat flow is uncontroversial, the extent to which barriers might reduce future ice mass loss is less certain. There are numerous concerns about the viability and side‐effects of this proposed intervention. We use existing field observations and representative fjord‐scale models for the Greenland's largest glacier, Sermeq Kujalleq in the Ilulissat Icefjord, to suggest that there is already sufficient evidence to conclude that artificial barrier installation would have negative regional implications for marine productivity. The effects on fisheries are a concern as negative implications for Greenland's regional fisheries are unlikely to be socially acceptable. Increasing “geoengineeringization” of the Earth Sciences is likely to continue in coming decades as society grapples with the challenges of slowing climate change and mitigating its consequences. To produce beneficial results, the technical and social viabilities of geoengineering concepts need to be considered in parallel, with the latter determined in a complex social, economic and cultural nexus. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available August 1, 2026
  4. Pan, J (Ed.)
    Abstract The Gulf Stream, a major ocean current in the North Atlantic ocean is a key component in the global redistribution of heat and is important for marine ecosystems. Based on 27 years (1993–2019) of wind reanalysis and satellite altimetry measurements, we present observational evidence that the path of this freely meandering jet after its separation from the continental slope at Cape Hatteras, aligns with the region of maximum cyclonic vorticity of the wind stress field known as the positive vorticity pool. This synchronicity between the wind stress curl maximum region and the Gulf Stream path is observed at multiple time-scales ranging from months to decades, spanning a distance of 1500 km between 70 and 55W. The wind stress curl in the positive vorticity pool is estimated to drive persistent upward vertical velocities ranging from 5 to 17 cm day−1over its ~ 400,000 km2area; this upwelling may supply a steady source of deep nutrients to the Slope Sea region, and can explain as much as a quarter of estimated primary productivity there. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available December 1, 2025
  5. The offshore transport of Greenland coastal waters influenced by freshwater input from ice sheet melting during summer plays an important role in ocean circulation and biological processes in the Labrador Sea. Many previous studies over the last decade have investigated shelfbreak transport processes in the region, primarily using ocean model simulations. Here, we use 27 years of surface geostrophic velocity observations from satellite altimetry, modified to include Ekman dynamics based on atmospheric reanalysis, and virtual particle releases to investigate seasonal and interannual variability in transport of coastal water in the Labrador Sea. Two sets of tracking experiments were pursued, one using geostrophic velocities only, and another using total velocities including the wind effect. Our analysis revealed substantial seasonal variability, even when only geostrophic velocities were considered. Water from coastal southwest Greenland is generally transported northward into Baffin Bay, although westward transport off the west Greenland shelf increases in fall and winter due to winds. Westward offshore transport is increased for water from southeast Greenland so that, in some years, water originating near the east Greenland coast during summer can be transported into the central Labrador Sea and the convection region. When wind forcing is considered, long-term trends suggest decreasing transport of Greenland coastal water during the melting season toward Baffin Bay, and increasing transport into the interior of the Labrador Sea for water originating from southeast Greenland during summer, where it could potentially influence water column stability. Future studies using higher-resolution velocity observations are needed to capture the role of submesoscale variability in transport pathways in the Labrador Sea. 
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  6. Abstract Subglacial discharge emerging from the base of Greenland's marine‐terminating glaciers drives upwelling of nutrient‐rich bottom waters to the euphotic zone, which can fuel nitrate‐limited phytoplankton growth. Here, we use buoyant plume theory to quantify this subglacial discharge‐driven nutrient supply on a pan‐Greenland scale. The modeled nitrate fluxes were concentrated in a few critical systems, with half of the total modeled nitrate flux anomaly occurring at just 14% of marine‐terminating glaciers. Increasing subglacial discharge fluxes results in elevated nitrate fluxes, with the largest flux occurring at Jakobshavn Isbræ in Disko Bay, where subglacial discharge is largest. Subglacial discharge and nitrate flux anomaly also account for significant temporal variability in summer satellite chlorophyll a (Chl) within 50 km of Greenland's coast, particularly in some regions in central west and northwest Greenland. 
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  7. {"Abstract":["This dataset includes multiple fields: (i) files for monthly and annual fields for the max curl line and the zero curl line at 0.1 degree longitudinal resolutions; (ii) files for monthly and annual GS path obtained from Altimetry and originally processed by Andres (2016) at 0.1 degree longitudinal resolution. The maximum curl line (MCL) and the zero curl line (ZCL) calculations are briefly described here and are based on the original wind data (at 1.25 x 1.25 degree) provided by the Japanese reanalysis (JRA-55; Kobayashi et al., 2015) and available at https://zenodo.org/record/8200832 (Gifford et al. 2023). For details see Gifford, 2023. <\/p>\n\nThe wind stress curl (WSC) fields used for the MCL and ZCL calculations extend from 80W to 45W and 30N to 45N at the 1.25 by 1.25-degree resolution.  The MCL is defined as the maximum WSC values greater than zero within the domain per 1.25 degree longitude. As such, it is a function of longitude and is not a constant WSC value unlike the zero contour. High wind stress curl values that occurred near the coast were not included within this calculation. After MCL at the 1.25 resolution was obtained the line was smoothed with a gaussian smoothing and interpolated on to a 0.1 longitudinal resolution. The smoothed MCL lines at 0.1 degree resolution are provided in separate files for monthly and annual averages (2 files). Similarly, 2 other files (monthly and annual) are provided for the ZCL.    <\/p>\n\nLike the MCL, the ZCL is a line derived from 1.25 degree longitude throughout the domain under the condition that it's the line of zero WSC. The ZCL is constant at 0 and does not vary spatially like the MCL. If there are more than one location of zero curl for a given longitude the first location south of the MCL is selected. Similar to the MCL, the ZCL was smoothed with a gaussian smoothing and interpolated on to a 0.1 longitudinal resolution.   <\/p>\n\nThe above files span the years from 1980 through 2019. So, the monthly files have 480 months starting January 1980, and the annual files have 40 years of data. The files are organized with each row being a new time step and each column being a different longitude. Therefore, the monthly MCL and ZCL files are each 480 x 351 for the 0.1 resolution data. Similarly, the annual files are 40 x 351 for the 0.1 degree resolution data.  <\/p>\n\nNote that the monthly MCLs and ZCLs are obtained from the monthly wind-stress curl fields. The annual MCLs and ZCLs are obtained from the annual wind-stress curl fields.<\/strong><\/p>\n\nSince the monthly curl fields preserves more atmospheric mesoscales than the annual curl fields, the 12-month average of the monthly MCLs and ZCLs will not match with the annual MCLs and ZCLs derived from the annual curl field.  The annual MCLs and ZCLs provided here are obtained from the annual curl fields and representative metrics of the wind forcing on an annual time-scale. <\/p>\n\nFurthermore, the monthly Gulf Stream axis path (25 cm isoheight from Altimeter, reprocessed by Andres (2016) technique) from 1993 through 2019 have been made available here. A total of 324 monthly paths of the Gulf Stream are tabulated. In addition, the annual GS paths for these 27 years (1993-2019) of altimetry era have been put together for ease of use. The monthly Gulf Stream paths have been resampled and reprocessed for uniqueness at every 0.1 degree longitude from 75W to 50W and smoothed with a 100 km (10 point) running average via matlab. The uniqueness has been achieved by using Consolidator algorithm (D\u2019Errico, 2023). <\/p>\n\nEach monthly or annual GS path has 251 points between 75W to 50W at 0.1 degree resolution.  <\/p>"],"Other":["Please contact igifford@earth.miami.edu for any queries.","{"references": ["Andres, M., 2016. On the recent destabilization of the Gulf Stream path downstream of Cape Hatteras. Geophysical Research Letters, 43(18), 9836-9842.", "D'Errico, J., 2023. Consolidator (https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/ 8354-consolidator), MATLAB Central File Exchange. Retrieved June 17, 2023.", "Gifford, Ian. H., 2023. The Synchronicity of the Gulf Stream Free Jet and the Wind Induced Cyclonic Vorticity Pool. MS Thesis, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. 75pp.", "Gifford, Ian, H., Avijit Gangopadhyay, Magdalena Andres, Glen Gawarkiewicz, Hilde Oliver, Adrienne Silver, 2023. Wind Stress, Wind Stress Curl, and Upwelling Velocities in the Northwest Atlantic (80-45W, 30-45N) during 1980-2019, https://zenodo.org/record/8200832.", "Kobayashi, S., Ota, Y., Harada, Y., Ebita, A., Moriya, M., Onoda, H., Onogi, K., Kamahori, H., Kobayashi, C., Endo, H. and Miyaoka, K., 2015. The JRA-55 reanalysis: General specifications and basic characteristics.\\u202fJournal of the Meteorological Society of Japan. Ser. II,\\u202f93(1), pp.5-48. Kobayashi, S., Ota, Y., Harada, Y., Ebita, A., Moriya, M., Onoda, H., Onogi, K., Kamahori, H., Kobayashi, C., Endo, H. and Miyaoka, K., 2015. The JRA-55 reanalysis: General specifications and basic characteristics.\\u202fJournal of the Meteorological Society of Japan. Ser. II,\\u202f93(1), pp.5-48."]}"]} 
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  8. {"Abstract":["This dataset contains three netcdf files that pertain to monthly, seasonal, and annual fields of surface wind stress, wind stress curl, and curl-derived upwelling velocities over the Northwest Atlantic (80-45W, 30-45N) covering a forty year period from 1980 to 2019. Six-hourly surface (10 m) wind speed components from the Japanese 55-year reanalysis (JRA-55; Kobayashi et al., 2015) were processed from 1980 to 2019 over a larger North Atlantic domain of 100W to 10E and 10N to 80N. Wind stress was computed using a modified step-wise formulation, originally based on (Gill, 1982) and a non-linear drag coefficient (Large and Pond, 1981), and later modified for low speeds (Trenberth et al., 1989). See Gifford (2023) for more details.   <\/p>\n\nAfter the six-hourly zonal and meridional wind stresses were calculated, the zonal change in meridional stress (curlx) and the negative meridional change in zonal stress (curly) were found using NumPy\u2019s gradient function in Python (Harris et al., 2020) over the larger North Atlantic domain (100W-10E, 10-80N). The curl (curlx + curly) over the study domain (80-45W, 10-80N) is then extracted, which maintain a constant order of computational accuracy in the interior and along the boundaries for the smaller domain in a centered-difference gradient calculation. <\/p>\n\nThe monthly averages of the 6-hour daily stresses and curls were then computed using the command line suite climate data operators (CDO, Schulzweida, 2022) monmean function. The seasonal (3-month average) and annual averages (12-month average) were calculated in Python using the monthly fields with NumPy (NumPy, Harris et al., 2020). <\/p>\n\nCorresponding upwelling velocities at different time-scales were obtained from the respective curl fields and zonal wind stress by using the Ekman pumping equation of the study by Risien and Chelton (2008; page 2393). Please see Gifford (2023) for more details.   <\/p>\n\nThe files each contain nine variables that include longitude, latitude, time, zonal wind stress, meridional wind stress, zonal change in meridional wind stress (curlx), the negative meridional change in zonal wind stress (curly), total curl, and upwelling. Units of time begin in 1980 and are months, seasons (JFM etc.), and years to 2019. The longitude variable extends from 80W to 45W and latitude is 30N to 45N with uniform 1.25 degree resolution.  <\/p>\n\nUnits of stress are in Pascals, units of curl are in Pascals per meter, and upwelling velocity is described by centimeters per day. The spatial grid is a 29 x 13 longitude x latitude array. <\/p>\n\nFilenames: <\/p>\n\nmonthly_windstress_wsc_upwelling.nc<\/strong>: 480 time steps from 80W to 45W and 30N to 45N.<\/p>\n\nseasonal_windstress_wsc_upwelling.nc<\/strong>: 160 time steps from 80W to 45W and 30N to 45N.<\/p>\n\nannual_windstress_wsc_upwelling.nc<\/strong>: 40 time steps from 80W to 45W and 30N to 45N.<\/p>"],"Other":["Please contact igifford@earth.miami.edu for any queries.","{"references": ["Gifford, I.H., 2023. The Synchronicity of the Gulf Stream Free Jet and the Wind Induced Cyclonic Vorticity Pool. MS Thesis, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. 75pp.", "Gill, A. E. (1982). Atmosphere-ocean dynamics (Vol. 30). Academic Press.", "Harris, C.R., Millman, K.J., van der Walt, S.J. et al. Array programming with NumPy. Nature 585, 357\\u2013362 (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2649-2.", "Japan Meteorological Agency/Japan (2013), JRA-55: Japanese 55-year Reanalysis, Daily 3-Hourly and 6-Hourly Data, https://doi.org/10.5065/D6HH6H41, Research Data Archive at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Computational and Information Systems Laboratory, Boulder, Colo. (Updated monthly.)", "Kobayashi, S., Ota, Y., Harada, Y., Ebita, A., Moriya, M., Onoda, H., Onogi, K., Kamahori, H., Kobayashi, C., Endo, H. and Miyaoka, K., 2015. The JRA-55 reanalysis: General specifications and basic characteristics.\\u202fJournal of the Meteorological Society of Japan. Ser. II,\\u202f93(1), pp.5-48.", "Large, W.G. and Pond, S., 1981. Open ocean momentum flux measurements in moderate to strong winds.\\u202fJournal of physical oceanography,\\u202f11(3), pp.324-336.", "Risien, C.M. and Chelton, D.B., 2008. A global climatology of surface wind and wind stress fields from eight years of QuikSCAT scatterometer data.\\u202fJournal of Physical Oceanography,\\u202f38(11), pp.2379-2413.", "Schulzweida, Uwe. (2022). CDO User Guide (2.1.0). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7112925.", "Trenberth, K.E., Large, W.G. and Olson, J.G., 1989. The effective drag coefficient for evaluating wind stress over the oceans.\\u202fJournal of Climate,\\u202f2(12), pp.1507-1516."]}"]} 
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  9. The field of oceanography is transitioning from data-poor to data-rich, thanks in part to increased deployment ofin-situplatforms and sensors, such as those that instrument the US-funded Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI). However, generating science-ready data products from these sensors, particularly those making biogeochemical measurements, often requires extensive end-user calibration and validation procedures, which can present a significant barrier. Openly available community-developed and -vetted Best Practices contribute to overcoming such barriers, but collaboratively developing user-friendly Best Practices can be challenging. Here we describe the process undertaken by the NSF-funded OOI Biogeochemical Sensor Data Working Group to develop Best Practices for creating science-ready biogeochemical data products from OOI data, culminating in the publication of the GOOS-endorsed OOI Biogeochemical Sensor Data Best Practices and User Guide. For Best Practices related to ocean observatories, engaging observatory staff is crucial, but having a “user-defined” process ensures the final product addresses user needs. Our process prioritized bringing together a diverse team and creating an inclusive environment where all participants could effectively contribute. Incorporating the perspectives of a wide range of experts and prospective end users through an iterative review process that included “Beta Testers’’ enabled us to produce a final product that combines technical information with a user-friendly structure that illustrates data analysis pipelines via flowcharts and worked examples accompanied by pseudo-code. Our process and its impact on improving the accessibility and utility of the end product provides a roadmap for other groups undertaking similar community-driven activities to develop and disseminate new Ocean Best Practices. 
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